Five global banks launch GL1 Org in Singapore to set standards for tokenized markets

Five global banks have put a common standards body behind tokenized finance. On Nov. 4, 2026, HSBC, Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, MUFG Bank, Societe Generale-FORGE and Standard Chartered announced the Global Layer One Organisation (GL1 Org), a Singapore-based non-profit that will push shared frameworks for tokenized financial markets, according to a joint release carried by The Asian Banker and covered by The Business Times.

GL1 Org builds on Global Layer One (GL1), an initiative convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) with global financial institutions and policymakers. The banks said the launch marks GL1's transition into an industry-led organisation for the next phase of that work.

What already exists — and what comes next

Since launch, GL1 has published two practical frameworks, the release said: the GL1 Market Infrastructure (MI) Toolkit, a controls framework guided by international standards to assess and design market infrastructures, and the GL1 Programmable Compliance (PC) Toolkit, a structured approach to embedding regulatory and policy requirements into digital financial infrastructure.

GL1 Org's job is to keep developing and adopting those toolkits, advance common approaches for trusted, interoperable digital financial infrastructure, and support connectivity across institutions, infrastructures and jurisdictions. It welcomes banks, policymakers, market infrastructure providers, fintechs and other stakeholders.

Why the banks say it matters

"Tokenisation can help make financial markets faster, more efficient and more connected, but those benefits will only be realised if clients can trust the underlying infrastructure," said Ruby Ho, HSBC's managing director and head of markets and securities services for ASEAN, in the release.

Oliver Harris, global head of Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, said cross-industry collaboration is "essential for advancing tokenisation across financial infrastructures around the world." Standard Chartered's Patrick Lee called policy, regulatory and market-infrastructure standards "critical for interoperability" as public and private chain networks multiply. MAS Deputy Managing Director Leong Sing Chiong welcomed the industry-led transition and broader participation ahead.